The Lincoln Stars (17-19-0-1) could not hold off the Sioux Falls Stampede (22-11-4-3) in a 4-2 loss on Friday night at Denny Sanford Premier Center.

Stampede defenseman Paul DeNaples (8:52 2nd) started the scoring in the second period before Stars forward Philippe Lapointe (14:13 2nd) answered back to tie the game, 1-1. Stampede forwards Artem Ivanyuzhenkov (7:16 3rd) and Adam Dawe (10:43 3rd; PP, 13:05 3rd) added three more to take a 4-1 lead. Stars forward Tristan Ashbrook (14:18 3rd) cut the lead in half, 4-2, but the Stampede took the win.

Buccaneers forward Erik Urbank (1:08 1st) converted on a turnover the get the home side out in front early, 1-0. Stars forward Paul Cotter (PP, 5:01 1st) answered with a power play goal to tie the game at 1-1. Without a goal for the rest of regulation in overtime, the Stars would grab both points with a goal by forward Gustaf Westlund (4th Round) in the shootout and send the Stars to a 2-1 win.

The Lincoln Stars return home for a home-and-home plus Sunday matinee against the Omaha Lancers and Dubuque Fighting Saints. The Stars enter their third home-and-home meeting with the Lancers this season after playing four times in January. The Stars earned one point head-to-head on January 13 in a 4-3 shootout loss. The Stars are 28-25-4-4 against the Lancers at the Ice Box since 2002-03 and 51-55-4-9 overall in that same span. The Stars also begin a two-game series against the Fighting Saints on Sunday afternoon and have won four-straight meetings over the last two seasons. In addition, the Stars have also won five of eight games overall in the last four seasons and three of four at home. The Stars are 6-7-0-1 since the series began in 2010-11 and 4-3-0-0 at the Ice Box.

PROMOTIONS:

FRIDAY: The Stars are hosting Happy Hour specials from 6:00-7:35 p.m. in the Ice Box. Any 12 oz. draw will be available for just $2. Fans can use their normal game night ticket for entry when doors open at 6:00 p.m.

SUNDAY: Faith & Family Day returns for a Sunday matinee with human outreach in mind. The Stars will be donating $5 toward every ticket sold to Food For The Hungry, who will then match that donation 22-to-1 for every dollar raised. All donated funds will go to benefit clean water initiatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Omaha Lancers picked up wins in all three games, taking a 3-2 win against the Dubuque Fighting Saints, a 3-2 shootout win over the Sioux Falls Stampede and a 4-1 win against the Des Moines Buccaneers. Lancers forward Cole Gallant (1g, 3a) was one of five players with multi-point weeks and was the only player with points in each game. Forward Jack Randl (3g) led the team in goals, and forwards Noah Cates (1g, 2a), Brendan Furry (2g, 1a) and Filip Suchy (1g, 2a) all joined with three points. Goaltender Zach Driscoll saved a combined 58 of 62 shots on Friday and Saturday, and Vincent Purpura stopped 19 of 20 shots on Sunday.

The Dubuque Fighting Saints took a 3-2 loss on Friday in Omaha but won 4-1 over the Central Illinois Flying Aces on Saturday. Three players earned multi-point weekends, and forward Logan Pietila (2g) was the only skater with a multi-goal weekend. Forwards Matias Maccelli (1g, 1a) and Santeri Virtanen (1g, 1a) each rounded out the weekend with a pair of points. Goaltender James Durham stopped 29 of 32 shots in Friday's loss, and Cole Weaver halted 19 of 20 shots in the win.

Western Conference Outlook:

The Omaha Lancers and Waterloo Black Hawks opened a small separation from the middle of the conference with three win weekends though still stand just one point apart. The Sioux Falls Stampede extended their point streak to seven games and leapt into third place with a five-point week. The Fargo Force swept the Tri-City Storm to jump into fourth place while the Storm have now lost four-straight games. The Sioux City Musketeers and Lincoln Stars split their pair of games to stay five points apart, and the Des Moines Buccaneers dropped two of three games.

IN THE NEWS...

The Stars announced on Monday the launch of the Lincoln Stars Foundation, a 501c3 with local and global initiatives to provide access to the sport of hockey and build sustainable clean water solutions. The foundation will partner with Food for the Hungry (fh.org) for its international mission, and the Stars and Food for the Hungry have chosen the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the recipient of their donation. Locally, the Stars will continue to assist in growing the sport of hockey in Lincoln through outreach and hands-on experiences.

STAR BITS...

The Stars completed their four-game road trip with a 3-1-0-0 record before returning home this weekend. In that span, the Stars won two one-goal games, took down the top team in the Eastern Conference (Team USA) twice and kept opponents to three goals or less in three of four games. The four-game trip ties a season-best for record starting a month with October, November and December. The Stars have also won four of their last five games.

The Stars continued their strong play in shootouts this season, earning their fourth win in five attempts and their second-straight shootout win. Three of the four winning goals have come from different players (Paul Cotter, Dominick Mersch, Gustaf Westlund), and the last two shootout wins have come in the fourth round. Goaltender Tomá Vomá?ka stopped all four shots in his first shootout this season, and Stars goaltending is a combined 16-for-18 (.889), sharing the fourth-best shootout save percentage in the USHL.